


First Fight

by Aussie_Muggle



Series: the good old days and other classified ops [1]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, and thus begins three decades of "but we're just friends honest", coulson is a history nerd, she finds his dorkishness endearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-12
Updated: 2017-04-12
Packaged: 2018-10-18 00:41:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10605717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aussie_Muggle/pseuds/Aussie_Muggle
Summary: Becauseobviouslythis is how they met.





	

**Author's Note:**

> A little bit of lighthearted violence after the last traumatising episode. There shall be more of their misadventures in this collection.

Joint exercises and training sessions between Operations and Communications had been an integral part of S.H.I.E.L.D. academy training since Director Carter recruited her first cadets. Specialists were expected to be a solution by themselves. Combat, espionage and tech skills.

 _The world is changing rapidly,_ Director Carter had said to Congress in 1975. _Technology is growing at an exponential rate and threats against humanity are as innumerable as they are unpredictable. Not every issue can be solved with a firearm and some cannot be solved without them. Good agents, good soldiers, have lost their lives because they lack the required skill-set._

Coulson had listened to her speech twice. Quoted it in a few essays. Comms cadets weren't exactly expected to be combat ready but, as Director Carter put it, _you plan, you implement the plan, the gates of Tartarus open and people die._

Coulson could hold his own in a fight, but he didn't particularly enjoy it. Which was exactly his problem now. Sparring was far more frequent now that the cadets from Operations had arrived.

The cadet he was facing wasn't very talkative. She didn't look threatening ( _five foot and loose change, bangs and pigtails_ ) but she had fought Greg Evans, who vaguely resembled a small tank, to a standstill.

She had already taped her hands and made her way to the centre of the mat without so much as a _good morning_. Coulson couldn't help feeling that there was something impolite about trying to punch someone without a proper introduction. Call him old fashioned.

“Hi,” he tried. 

She didn't reply. She just frowned at him as though he was the strangest person she'd ever met. _Did they not talk to people before beating them black and blue at the Operations Academy?_

“…I'm Phil Coulson,” he continued, somehow managing not to cringe with embarrassment.

The corner of her mouth twitched. Not quite a smile.

“Nice to meet you, Coulson,” she said finally, a hint of amusement in her eyes. “Melinda May.”

“Any rules?”

The half-smile turned into a smirk. Phil immediately felt like an idiot.

“I’m fine,” she replied dryly. “You?”

 _God, no. You kicked Evans into a wall._ “Yep.”

May squared her shoulders. Relaxed but ready. Coulson tried to move first, she blocked him deftly. He blocked her first punch but not her second. His attempt at putting her in a hold lasted for a grand total of three seconds before she twisted out of it.

She caught his last punch and used its momentum to slam him bodily into the mat. Coulson lay there, stunned, for a moment.

“Can you teach me how to do that last one?” he asked, when the air returned to his lungs.

May extended her hand and helped him to his feet. Her not-smile turned into something warm and genuine. _Don't stare, don't stare…_

“You're a sucker for punishment, aren't you Coulson?” she teased.

“I have been told,” he muttered, rubbing his jaw. “What was that thing you did first?”


End file.
